Dubai Holding embarks on second expedition to Mt. Kilimanjaro

Trek to Africa’s highest peak is part of the company’s growing Corporate Wellness Programme

Expedition to support non-profit educational centre for challenged youth

Dubai Holding, a global investment holding company, will send an expedition of executives to trek to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro as part of its on-going commitment to promote corporate wellness within the Group. The expedition, held under Dubai Holding’s expanding Corporate Wellness Programme will begin on January 25, 2013 and the team is scheduled to reach the mountain’s peak five days after departing Dubai.

The Dubai Holding Kilimanjaro climbing team consists of ten senior management members from across portfolio companies, including Jumeirah Group, TECOM Investments and Dubai Properties Group.

This is the second expedition to Kilimanjaro from Dubai Holding in the last five years. In July 2009, Dubai Holding’s Chief Executive Officer, Ahmad Bin Byat led the first expedition in support of Dubai Cares, which included Chief Executives of its portfolio companies.

This year Dubai Holding will be supporting Manzil, a non-profit centre catering to individuals with mental challenges from 4 to 30 years of age. Manzil designs individualised programmes that accelerate the learning process of its students and develops their knowledge and skills to become part of the mainstream workforce.

“Dubai Holding is the first company in the region to launch a dedicated wellness programme for its employees, which emphasises on the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle to help improve productivity in the workplace and general wellbeing. Research has proven that physical activity is directly correlated to professional productivity. Therefore, our Corporate Wellness Programme does not only promote physical wellness, but it also contributes to building a motivational work environment that is both collaborative and efficient,” said Ahmad Bin Byat, CEO of Dubai Holding.

“We have constantly demonstrated our commitment to community development as an integral part of our CSR efforts, and we will continue to focus on youth as a fundamental pillar of our national development and growth in the UAE. We identify the importance of giving back to our local community, and ensure that we lead a sustainable and effective role through our portfolio companies’ programmes,” added Bin Byat. Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain in the world at 5,895 metres above sea level. Nearly 25,000 people attempt to climb Kilimanjaro every year. The Kilimanjaro National Park estimates that only 41% of trekkers actually reach the Uhuru summit.

The Dubai Holding Corporate Wellness Programme was founded in 2007. One of the most recent initiatives under the Dubai Holding Wellness Programme is the completion of the 2012 Global Corporate Challenge, where participants from Dubai Holding and its companies recorded a total distance of 218,407 kilometres, which equates to walking around the world 6.2 times. Furthermore, Dubai Holding has been sponsoring Dubai Marathon since 2008 and Vertical Marathon since 2003. In the past, Dubai Holding has also sponsored the Dubai Women’s Run.